


Sewers, Bookshops and Slime

by DarkShade



Series: The Doctor And The Nurse [7]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Adventure, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor/Companion Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShade/pseuds/DarkShade
Summary: Hoping to cheer his friend up, the Doctor stops off in Rory's home time.When UNIT appear on the scene, Rory and the Doctor discover there is something unfriendly lurking beneath the streets.
Relationships: Amy Pond & Rory Williams, Tenth Doctor & Rory Williams
Series: The Doctor And The Nurse [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754761
Comments: 9
Kudos: 13





	Sewers, Bookshops and Slime

**Author's Note:**

> I really like this story, and hope you do too.

Something Rory loved about travelling with the Doctor was the fact his bed on the TARDIS was the most comfortable he’d ever slept on. It was like sleeping on a cloud and the firmest mattress imaginable. The day before he’d spent most of it getting soaked to his skin, again, as he helped an entire village hide from raiders behind a waterfall.

Returning to the TARDIS, Rory spent an hour in the warm bath that the TARDIS kept at the perfect temperature, had a quick dinner, before heading to sleep.

He had no idea what the Doctor did while he slept and didn’t care as all he wanted was to be unconscious for several hours.

Opening his eyes, Rory stared at the picture on the cabinet beside him and wondered what Amy was doing at that moment. Sometimes he wished that she was here with him, but then there were other times he didn’t. He never wanted her to be in danger at all never mind the crazy situations the Doctor dragged him into. His phone buzzing made him jump and he grabbed it, answering without looking properly.

“Hello?”

“Rory,” the man’s voice he didn’t expect came making Rory freeze, “Rory, can you talk just now.”

“No,” Rory stated sharply before he hung up and, rolling over, pressed his face into the pillow.

“Is there something wrong?”

The Doctor’s voice surprised him, but Rory was becoming used to his friend appearing at odd times.

“No,” Rory murmured, he grimaced at the silence before adding, “I just got a call from someone I don’t want to talk to.”

The Doctor was silent for a few moments before saying, “If you’re ready I thought we could visit one of my favourite places.”

“Give me time for a shower and food then sure,” Rory replied.

With a gentle clap on Rory’s shoulder, the Doctor left him to get ready.

The Doctor nodded when Rory appeared in the console room, “Okay, are we…”

He was cut off when Rory’s phone rang again. Pulling it out Rory checked the caller before declining the call.

“Are you not talking to Amy again?” the Doctor asked concerned.

Rory shook his head, “It wasn’t Amy.”

“Then who?”

“It’s not important,” Rory dismissed.

Curiosity filled the Doctor. He had come to know the other man well and Rory had never acted like this. To be honest he’d never known anyone other than Amy to call Rory, Rory on occasion called his grandmother so the Doctor was intrigued by the mystery caller.

“Where are we going?” Rory asked sharply.

The Doctor frowned before deciding to leave it, for the moment. He knew that once Rory was ready, then he would talk about whatever was bothering him.

“It’s a planet called Planta,” the Doctor told him, “Most of it is basically a garden. It has a team of scientists who work in the different areas and it is the basis of a lot of the medicines used by the galaxies hospitals.”

Rory shrugged.

“Okay,” the Doctor frowned, “Not a hit. How about a trip into the past instead?”

Shrugging again Rory leaned against the rail. The Doctor frowned, it was unusual for Rory to be so ambivalent, he made a decision and started the TARDIS moving.

“Where are we going?” Rory asked after a few moments.

“To see a friend,” the Doctor told him, “Someone I think you’ll be happy to see.”

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor started towards the door, stopping he looked back, “Are you coming?”

Rory frowned but followed him out the door, frowning confused to see he was in London just outside a row of shops not that far from the hospital he worked in. Before Rory could asked the Doctor where they were, a squeal of delight sounded from behind him. The two men turned just as the red head threw herself at Rory.

Rory automatically wrapped his arms around Amy when she jumped into them, closing his eyes as she hugged him tightly.

“I didn’t think you’d make it so early,” she laughed, “I thought you’d be working.”

A little bemused Rory replied, “Day off.”

Amy beamed with joy as she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the middle-aged couple standing watching with amused smiles.

“Rory,” Amy stated when they stopped in front of the couple, “This is Clayton and Julia Gove.”

Clayton was tall, thin with salt and pepper hair, a neatly trimmed beard and sharp grey eyes, while Julia was slightly shorter with long dark hair and deep brown eyes. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Rory,” Julia said taking his hand, “Amy talks about you all the time.”

“From all she’s told us,” Clayton spoke up, “I’m surprised you’re not ten feet tall.”

Rory chuckled, “It’s nice to meet you both too. Everything Amy tells me about her time with you sounds incredible.”

Amy squeezed his arm tightly.

“We’re just setting up,” Clayton told him, “Why don’t you two go and catch up?”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked.

Julia chuckled, “We can handle things before the event starts. You and Rory spend some time together, just make sure you’re back ten minutes before we open the doors.”

Amy quickly hugged Julia before grabbing Rory’s hand once more as the couple headed into the bookstore.

“Can you give me a minute?” Rory asked, “I’ll meet you over at the café.”

Amy nodded, hugging him quickly again, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

With a happy bounce, Amy headed over to the café while Rory turned and marched back to the TARDIS where the Doctor was standing.

“Why are we here?” Rory demanded.

“Thought you might want to see Amy,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly.

Rory stared at him.

“You seemed a bit down after the call you didn’t answer,” the Doctor noted, “You told me she was going to be here, so I thought why not.”

Rory’s glare didn’t move from the Doctor who smiled innocently at him.

“What are you going to do?” Rory asked him finally.

The Doctor shrugged again, “Have a wander. Look around. I’ll meet you back here in a few hours.”

Still looking a little suspicious, Rory nodded and left the Doctor to join Amy.

*********************************************

The Doctor was bored.

It had seemed like a good idea to stop off here so Rory could see Amy for a few hours, his friend seemed affected by whoever had called him earlier that day and the Doctor hoped spending time with his best friend would make Rory feel better. 

But he was bored.

Heading back to the bookshop, he wrinkled his nose as a strange smell floated his way. Taking a deeper sniff, the Doctor mused on what it was. If forced to describe it, he would have said it was like a lemon mixed with stale sweat. And he was sure that he knew it from somewhere, he just couldn’t remember where.

He spotted Amy and Rory walking just in front of him, Amy had a grip on Rory’s arm as she talked. It was clear to anyone with eyes how much the redhead adored Rory, their connection obviously strong. Part of him wanted to ask Amy to travel with them but knew Rory would not be happy. The younger man was extremely protective of Amy, to the extent he did not want her to have any knowledge of what situations he himself got into while travelling with the Doctor.

“We’re heading for dinner after the event,” Amy was saying as the Doctor caught up enough to overhear, “Can you come?”

Rory hesitated, “I’m not sure. I may have to head into work, but I’ll let you know.”

They reached the door and Amy hugged Rory once more before she left him standing watching her leave. Rory turned and jumped finding the Doctor standing only a few feet away.

“What are you doing?” Rory demanded annoyed.

The Doctor frowned, “We may have a problem.”

Rory grimaced worried, “What kind of problem? Is Amy in danger?”

The Doctor held up his hands, “I’m not sure yet but we should have a look. I need to fetch something from the TARDIS first.”

Rory sighed and motioned his friend to lead on. He was so happy to see Amy, it was amazing to not only see her but to see how much she was enjoying the job. The one she had abandoned him for.

He saw the Doctor’s coat tails disappear into the doors of the TARDIS and Rory followed on finding the Doctor digging through a box, tossing things over his shoulder.

“What are you looking for?”

“Something to work out the smell,” the Doctor replied before sticking his head into the box again.

Rory rolled his eyes, “That explains nothing.”

Finally the Doctor jumped up holding what looked like a mash of a phone, a hairdryer and computer game controller.

Rory opened his mouth before shaking his head, “There’s no point me asking, your explanation will be part gibberish.”

The Doctor gave him a hurt look, “This is the ‘Aroma Detector’. I want to work out where the smell is coming from.”

“What smell?”

The Doctor frowned, “Likely it’s not in your olfactory range but there is a strange smell coming from near the bookshop,” he quickly added at Rory’s look of horror, “I’m sure Amy and her friends will be fine. I just want to have a look.”

“Okay,” Rory agreed, he started out the TARDIS again stalling when he came face to face with several soldiers all with their guns trained on him, “Doctor!!”

Rory felt the Doctor grab his arm tugging him back inside the TARDIS before taking Rory’s place in the doorway.

“If UNIT are looking for my help,” the Doctor stated darkly, “I suggest you put those away.”

“Apologies, Doctor,” a woman in uniform stated, “But after everything with Harold Saxon we had to be sure it was you.”

“Harold Saxon?” Rory asked, “The Prime Minister who went mad?”

The Doctor glanced back at him, “I’ll explain later.”

Following the Doctor as he moved to the woman in charge, Rory looked around the people standing there. All were military and all looked completely in awe, even a little afraid, of the Doctor.

“I’m Captain Adrianne Murphy,” the woman introduced herself, “And when we detected your presence, I was ordered to recruit you to assist us with the current situation.”

“Situation?” the Doctor asked concerned.

Murphy nodded, “There have been a number of disappearances recently and a strange energy pulse detected at sporadic intervals.”

The Doctor pursed his lips in thought, “Show us what you’ve got.”

Murphy nodded and started across the road to where a large van sat. Rory appeared at his side looking worried.

“Who are these people?” Rory murmured softly.

“This is UNIT,” the Doctor explained, “They watch out for alien attacks. I used to work for them back when I had curly hair and a really cool car.”

“Ohhhkay?”

“They’ve picked up the same thing I did,” the Doctor continued, “While we’re there pay attention to everything for me. You’re good with people, so be your usual self and listen to whatever anyone tells you.”

Rory nodded and as had become the norm over the past few months followed the Doctor into the unknown.

*********************************************

Amy helped Julia set up for the book signing, humming happily to herself.

“You’re in a good mood,” Julia noted with a smile.

Shrugging Amy replied, “I am.”

“Would that have anything to do with a certain childhood friend?” Julia asked amused, “You know the one you were practically attached to from the moment you saw him this morning.”

Amy smiled, “You know how much I miss Rory, and I didn’t expect to see him until later.”

“Well, he is absolutely adorable,” Julia smiled back, “Is he coming to the signing?”

“Hopefully,” Amy said, “He said he might have to work.”

Julia squeezed her hand, “Well, if he can come then invite him to join us for dinner tonight. We can swap stories.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Amy grimaced.

“Why?”

“Because I know the stories Rory has to tell about me,” Amy said self-consciously, “And how bad some of them are.”

Julia mused on this for a second, “I really want him to come to dinner now.”

*********************************************

The Doctor stepped into the UNIT mobile command van and looked around, he frowned as everyone saluted him.

“Oh, don’t do that,” he sighed annoyed before turning, “Murphy, what do you have for me?”

Murphy motioned him to one of the screens, “My commanding officer wishes to speak to you.”

Moving to where the woman stood, the Doctor gestured Rory to join him, a huge smile touching his lips when he saw the man on the screen before him.

“Brigadier,” the Doctor said, fondness filling his voice, “It’s so good to see you, my old friend.”

Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart chuckled, “Less of the old, Doctor. You may now look like a new recruit, but I know how much older you are than I am.”

“How much older?” Rory murmured in his ear.

The Doctor frowned at him, “Not now.”

“And I see you have a new travelling companion,” the Brigadier noted. 

Still frowning slightly, the Doctor nodded, “This is Rory Williams. Rory, this is Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. A dear old friend of mine.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Rory smiled politely.

“I hope you don’t take any nonsense from him, young man,” the Brigadier, “And remind me to give you a few phone numbers for advice on how to handle him when he gets annoying.”

“Alistair,” the Doctor stated through gritted teeth, “Can we get to the point?”

Chuckling the old man nodded to Captain Murphy who was standing at the Doctor’s side.

“We’ve have detected some unusual readings in the past few days,” Murphy explained, “This morning there was a spike in the energy readings. And the team we sent to investigate haven’t been heard from in three hours.”

“Where were they looking?” Rory asked concern filling his voice.

Murphy turned to him, looking a little surprised but answered, “In the sewers beneath the row of shops just across the road.”

Rory looked at the Doctor worry filling his eyes, “Amy…”

“I know,” the Doctor said softly before turning to Murphy, “Show me what the readings were before your people disappeared.”

Murphy nodded and quickly brought up some schematics on the screen beside the one showing the Brigadier. The Doctor pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket, slipping them on before he leaned forward and studied the information in front of him.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“The team were filming while down in the sewer,” the Brigadier confirmed, “But there is nothing I could see that was helpful.”

The Doctor shrugged, “Let me see.”

Leaning closer in, the Doctor and Rory studied the dark grainy scene of an indeterminate person walking through a dark tunnel. Rory jumped when the person was grabbed suddenly and yanked away before screams sounded then the screen went black.

“Interesting,” the Doctor mused, taking his glasses off.

“Not the word I was going to use,” Rory said, barely contained panic in his voice.

The Doctor turned to him promising, “I will make sure she’s fine.”

“I have a team ready to go with you, Doctor,” Murphy told him, “Mr Williams can wait here.”

“I’m coming,” Rory stated, when she was about to argue he repeated sharper, “I’m coming.”

Murphy frowned, “I can’t agree to civilians going into potentially dangerous situations.”

“Rory is coming,” the Doctor said, “He’s a qualified nurse and has already seen a lot more than half the UNIT teams ever will.”

“Brigadier,” Murphy turned to her commander officer.

The Brigadier chuckled, “If the Doctor is happy with Mr Williams accompanying him then who am I to argue?”

“Usually the first one,” the Doctor smirked at him.

“Pot, kettle,” the Brigadier threw back.

“If you two have finished,” Rory spoke up, “I want to make sure Amy is safe so can we find whatever this thing is?”

“Why did I think this was a good idea?” Rory murmured softly as he walked at the Doctor’s side through the tunnel, gripping the torch he’d been given.

The Doctor chuckled.

“You’re almost at the spot the team disappeared,” Murphy’s voice came over the radio, “Be careful.”

Rory grimaced but continued walking, wishing he could see more. It was so dark and the beams from the torches weren’t highlighting enough for him. Then he smelled it.

“Doctor,” he murmured, “I think I can smell whatever you could earlier.”

“Finally,” the Doctor replied, “I’ve been tasting it since we came down here.”

Rory winced, “What is it?”

The Doctor winced, “I’m not sure yet, I know that smell but just can’t quite remember.”

“Let me know when you do know,” Rory told him, “Something that smells this bad should have a name.”

They continued forward with the UNIT team, who were scanning the surrounding area.

“Doctor,” the lead scientist called to him, “I’ve found something.”

The Doctor bounced over and Rory followed him. Rory wrinkled his nose seeing the orange goo on the wall, making a noise of disgust when the Doctor touched it with his finger and then touched his finger to his tongue.

“Really?” Rory demanded disgusted, “You have to taste it?”

“The tongue has 10,000 taste buds,” the Doctor told him, “It’s better at distinguishing certain things than trying to scan it with the technology of this time.”

Rory rolled his eyes, “Still disgusting.”

He shrugged, as he mused on whatever he was tasting. An annoyed grunt came from one of the other soldiers.

“Kawalsky?” Herman, the leader of the team, called.

“I slipped,” the reply came.

“Are you hurt?” Rory asked, pulling out his first aid kit and moving over to the man who was trying to get up from the ground.

The man shook his head, “I’m fine.”

Rory nodded and helped him stand before turning back to the Doctor who was staring at him. 

“What?” Rory asked confused.

“Don’t turn around, Rory,” the Doctor said, his hands held out, “Walk over to me.”

Worried Rory was about to step forward when he felt something cold and wet drip onto his neck and heard a strange hissing sound.

“Rory,” the Doctor motioned to him urgently, “Move to me, now.”

Taking one step forward, Rory cried out when whatever was behind him grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him away into the darkness.

The Doctor stared horrified as his young friend was pulled away, “Rory!!!”

“Doctor,” Herman grabbed his arm.

He tried to pull away to chase after his friend, but Herman held onto him.

“Let me go,” the Doctor snarled.

Herman held on tighter, “You can’t help him by running into the unknown. Sir, come back to the truck and we can look at what we’ve found.”

Closing his eyes, the Doctor hoped that this wasn’t him abandoning Rory and nodded.

“Make sure you get a sample of whatever that is,” the Doctor ordered, staring where Rory had disappeared.

The UNIT team packed up and they headed back up with the Doctor to the mobile command centre. As they passed the bookshop, a familiar redhead waved to get his attention.

“Hey,” Amy said, “Sorry, but you were with Rory earlier.”

The Doctor winced inwardly before nodding, “Yes, Dr John Smith,” he introduced himself with his usual nom-de-plume, noting to tell Rory later, before adding, “Rory has been working with me recently.”

“I was wanting to talk to him,” Amy said, “But he’s not answering his phone.”

“He’s in the middle of something just now and his phone is turned off,” the Doctor lied, “Can I give him a message?”

Amy nodded, “Just want to check if he’s free to come to dinner tonight.”

The Doctor hesitated as he looked at the young woman’s bright eyes, before nodding, “I’ll get him to call you as soon as possible.”

“Thanks,” she beamed before heading back into the bookshop. 

The Doctor sighed and headed back into the UNIT command centre, “Tell me you have something.”

“Doctor,” the Brigadier appeared on the screen, “I’m sorry about Rory.”

“He’s not gone yet,” the Doctor stated sharply before turning to Murphy, “What do we have?”

Murphy quickly pulled up the information they had discovered.

“What did you see?” the Brigadier asked.

The Doctor sighed, “All I saw was a shadow and an arm before it grabbed him. And the slime, and the smell, they’re familiar but I can’t…” he stopped and stared at the screen again, scanning the energy signatures several times before pulling up the footage again. He closed his eyes going over in his mind everything that happened and remembered the hissing sound before Rory was grabbed, “Oh no.”

“What?” the Brigadier and Murphy asked in unison.

“I know what it is,” the Doctor told him, “The good news is that Rory and members of your team are still alive.”

“And the bad news?” Murphy asked.

The Doctor grimaced, “The creature is an Apepssis. If we don’t find and stop it, then its eggs will hatch and overrun the city.”

*********************************************

Rory slowly felt consciousness invade the blackness, aware of the fact he was warm and comfortable. As he became more cognizant of his surroundings, Rory became aware that he was surrounded by a thick liquid. Suddenly reality crashed into him and he tried to breathe finding his lungs were filled with thick gunk he couldn’t expel. Panicking at his inability to breathe, he thrashed trying to free himself, Rory managed to get a hold of his first aid kit and found the small pair of scissors from it. He could see a skin surrounding the bubble of orange slime that he was submerged in and fighting against the viscous liquid surrounding him, Rory stabbed at the side of the bubble as hard as he could. It took a few attempts but suddenly the bubble burst and Rory was expelled onto the cold hard ground. Rory threw up the goo filling his lungs and nose, gasping for breath once he’d managed to clear his airways.

Shakily Rory stood, wiping his face and then checked his pockets finding the small torch he had put in before leaving the TARDIS before locating the first aid kit on the ground amongst the slime he’d been trapped in.

Turning on the torch, he was relieved that whatever had grabbed him wasn’t here but was both horrified and amazed to see several pods filled with the same orange slime that he’d woken in.

Moving closer Rory stared as he saw each one had a person in it, he assumed these were the missing people and seeing the UNIT uniforms in the last few confirmed this. Looking closer Rory noticed that several of people in the pods had strange elliptical shaped attachments on their arms and legs.

Eggs, the voice in his head said and Rory shuddered, before he checked himself for anything possibly growing out of his appendages. Relief filled him when he found none. Taking a slow deep breath, coughing when he found some of the gunk remained in his mouth, Rory studied the pods a little closer, noting the size of the attachments in each and realising that there was an order. The pod he’d been placed in was at the end which meant he had been the last person grabbed, which meant the Doctor was still out there to find him. With this logic he moved to the pod beside his where he saw a woman in a UNIT uniform, and thankfully no eggs growing from her. Looking around, he was annoyed to find the scissors he had were the sharpest object around, musing that at least this time he was able to get some power behind them compared to his panicked stabs.

Gripping the scissors in his fist, Rory raised his arm and slammed the point down into the skin of the bubble, jumping back when it burst sending more slime over him as it expelled its occupant.

The young woman began to cough and throw up just as he had, Rory knelt by her side and gently rubbed her back.

“It’s okay,” he soothed, “Just get it all out and you’ll be okay.”

She remained on her hands and knees, taking deep breaths as Rory continued to rub her back and calm her. Finally, she turned to look at him and, realising that she didn’t know Rory, pulled away staggering to her feet.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Rory,” he introduced himself.

She looked around, “Where are the rest of your team?”

He shrugged, “I don’t have a team.”

“You don’t work for UNIT?” she asked confused.

Rory shook his head, “No. What’s your name?”

“Kayleigh,” she replied.

“Nice to meet you Kayleigh,” Rory said softly, “What do you do with UNIT?”

Kayleigh shrugged, “I’m a junior science officer. This was literally my first assignment in the field and…” she motioned around them, “Eww.”

Rory chuckled slightly in agreement of her assessment.

“So,” she asked, “If you’re not UNIT, how did you end up down here. And I’m guessing in one of those things from the mess of you.”

Rory shifted remembering once more how uncomfortable his clothes were stuck to him, “I’m a friend of someone who sort of works for UNIT, the Doctor.”

Kayleigh’s eyes widened, “You know the Doctor?”

Amazed by her reaction, Rory nodded.

“He is a legend,” she said with awe, “Some of the stories, I have no idea if they’re true but if they are then…wow.”

“Well if we get out of this,” Rory noted, “You can ask him.”

Rory pushed his hands through his hair grimacing as he got more gunk on his hands and had nowhere to wipe his hands clean. He really hoped there would be a shower in his very near future. Kayleigh was looking at the other pods in the chamber while Rory tried to work out if waking those with the eggs was a good idea.

The decision was taken from him as Kayleigh suddenly attacked one of the older pods with the scissors, he had no idea when she had taken them from him.

“Why did you do that?” he demanded, “We don’t know what those things are doing to them.”

The man who had been in the pod opened his eyes and scratched at the floor. Rory dropped down by him and tried to turn the man into the recovery position, but the protrusions attached to the man’s body hindered Rory’s attempts.

“Help me,” Rory snapped to Kayleigh.

Looking horrified, Kayleigh tried to help Rory turn the man but as they were all covered in the viscous liquid, they couldn’t get a proper hold of him. A few seconds later the man stilled, and Rory checked for a pulse.

“He’s dead.”

Kayleigh let out a shuddering breath, “I had to get him out. He’s our team leader, I had…I had…”

Rory caught her arms, “Kayleigh, I understand but until we know what those things are doing then we can’t release anyone else. All I have is a first aid kit and we’re going to need a lot more than that.”

“Sorry,” she whispered, “I just…I know them, we’ve worked together for a long time and seeing them like this is horrible.”

“I know,” Rory told her, “Trust me, I understand. Our best idea is to get out of here, find the Doctor and get UNIT then come with a proper team to release them.”

Kayleigh nodded.

“Alright,” he gave her a small smile, “There is one main exit in front of us. I think if we follow that tunnel then it’s possible that we’ll find the way out or at least run into the team UNIT send next.”

She frowned in thought, “You think they’ll send another team?”

He shrugged, “I’m being optimistic. Talk to me once we get out of here and I’ll freak out then.”

Kayleigh took one more look at the pods before nodding, “Let’s get out of here.”

Rory started walking towards the exit, Kayleigh just behind him. They barely made it three feet before Rory heard hissing.

“Back,” he whispered sharply, “It’s coming this way.”

Confused Kayleigh only moved when Rory grabbed her hand and pulled her with him into the back corner of the room where the older pods sat. He hoped that because this corner had more of the pods, it would hide them both.

He watched what looked like a cross between a human and a snake literally slither in. The hiss echoed around the chamber and he could feel Kayleigh’s nails dig into his arms.

They were trapped.

The Doctor grabbed the carton from Murphy as he finished the spray gun to sedate the creature they were after.

“Are you sure this will work, Doctor?” the Brigadier asked.

Glancing at the screen briefly, the Doctor nodded, “If it’s an Appepsiss, then yes it will work.”

“What is this thing again, Doctor?” Murphy handed him the next part he needed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “The best way to describe it for you is a humanoid snake, the secretions and smell mean it’s in its birthing phase of the mating cycle. The people it’s taken are being used as the food to grow the eggs.”

Murphy grimaced, “So, our people…”

“From the timeline,” the Doctor continued, “And the number of people it’s taken so far then it won’t have been able to lay eggs within the cocoon for all of them. We will lose some,” he shook his head sadly, “I can’t do anything for them, but we will be able to save most of the victims.”

Murphy nodded, “The team is ready whenever you are, Doctor.”

Fixing the final piece, the Doctor nodded, “Let’s go.”

Heading out the command centre, he found the group of UNIT waiting for him. He glanced over to the bookshop and could see Amy standing talking to an elderly woman before turning away and following the team down into the sewer once more.

Using the sonic the Doctor followed the trail of slime through the tunnels. Now he knew what it was, the Doctor knew how to track it. Marching forward with the UNIT team behind him, he held up his hand stopping them. He could hear hissing which the Doctor knew meant either it was about to lay more eggs or attack.

Neither would be good for Rory so the Doctor entered the chamber with the sedative gun ready. Looking around he saw two pods had been destroyed, the Appepsis was in the centre of the room staring into a corner where several pods sat hissing loudly. It turned and saw the Doctor, the hissing becoming even louder.

“Don’t shoot,” the Doctor snapped hearing the UNIT goons stampede in behind him. Turning his attention to the alien in front of him the Doctor held up his hand, “I can help you. I can take you home and find a way to keep your eggs sustained without the people you’ve taken.”

“SSSminessss,” it hissed at the Doctor, the creature made itself larger about to strike. 

The Doctor sighed in annoyance, why did they never just accept his help? Activating the spray, the Doctor aimed it at the Appepsis and started to rain down the sedative on it. The Appepsis snarled and hissed fighting against the sedation but soon it fell to the ground unconscious.

“Doctor,” Rory’s relief filled voice came just as he turned off the spray.

“Rory,” the Doctor stepped towards his friend, stopping to see Rory covered in orange slime from head to toe, “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Rory assured.

“We?” the Doctor asked seeing the young woman appear from wearing the same slime, “Of course, we.”

“This is Kayleigh,” Rory introduced the woman who smiled a little nervously, just before she was escorted out by the UNIT medical team. Rory turned to the look at the pods, “Can you save them?”

The Doctor nodded, “I can but only those who are in the first stage.” He looked at his friend and chuckled, “At least you’re not soaked again.”

Rory frowned at him.

“Go, get checked out and cleaned up while I help release these people,” the Doctor said, he reached out to clap Rory’s shoulder automatically, stopping before he actually touched the younger man, “Oh, and if you drip any on the TARDIS floor clean it up or she will not be happy.”

*********************************************

Rory ran his hands through his hair, checking it was finally goo free before he turned off the shower. Relieved he was clean once more, Rory dressed quickly before grabbing his phone that had been left in the TARDIS while they headed down into the sewers. He winced seeing multiple messages from Amy. The final one bemused him as it mentioned that a John Smith had told her he was working but he shook his head. He didn’t have the energy to question it. 

_‘I’ve finished work,’_ Rory text Amy, _‘I’ll be at the bookshop in a few minutes. Dinner sounds great.’_

He checked the rest of his messages finding several from the person he didn’t want to hear from, quickly deleting every voice mail and text message.

Grabbing his jacket, Rory headed out the TARDIS. The UNIT soldiers and scientists were still wandering about but thankfully they weren’t being too intrusive.

“Rory,” a familiar voice called, turning he stared at the woman with long brown hair coming towards him, “It’s Kayleigh.”

He laughed slightly, “Kayleigh, I didn’t recognise you not covered in orange slime.”

She chuckled, “I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?” Rory asked confused.

Kayleigh chuckled again before realising he seriously didn’t know why she was thanking him, “Are you kidding me? You saved my life.”

“It was nothing,” Rory told her, “I’m just glad we’re both okay.”

Shaking her head, Kayleigh stepped into him, “Thank you,” she said deliberately before kissing him.

Surprised Rory accepted the kiss for a few moments before pulling back. Kayleigh gave him another quick kiss before handing him a piece of paper and walking away.

The Doctor watched amused as the oblivious Rory was kissed by the young UNIT scientist he’d saved. Seriously the boy was leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake across time and space but had no idea. The Doctor also spotted Amy coming out the bookshop, catching the look on her face when she saw Rory being kissed. From the narrowing of her eyes, Amy was not happy about it.

When Kayleigh left him, Rory looked down at the paper before sliding it in his pocket and instantly forgot about it when he spotted Amy. The Doctor smiled as his young friend wrapped his arm around his childhood friend and hugged her tightly.

“Hi,” Amy spotted him, “Dr Smith.”

“Doctor Smith?” Rory mouthed at him confused.

The Doctor nodded, “Hello, Miss Pond.”

“Amy,” she insisted before asking, “Is something wrong?”

The Doctor shook his head, “No, just wanted to let Rory know everything from today is being cleaned up and he did a great job.”

Amy beamed at Rory.

“Have a good night,” the Doctor told his friend, “I’ll see you later, Rory. Miss Pond, Amy, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

Rory smiled as Amy led him away. The Doctor watched them leave, relieved that his young friend was safe. Returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor accessed the recordings from Rory’s phone. He knew he shouldn’t but whoever had been calling Rory was concerning him so just wanted to make sure it wasn’t something that would hurt Rory.

“Rory, it’s your Dad,” the voice came over the speakers, “I need to speak to you. Please call me back.”


End file.
